I thought about it. “I suppose that I did. But it’s not something that I think about every day. Are you saying that Ezzie and her kind are some sort of mutants? Because I’m not buying that.”
“No, not at all. I’m saying that they performed a lot of strange tests in the last century—playing with physics, you understand. It is my belief that they did more than split atoms under this desert. I think they fractured something bigger.”
“Fractured what?”
“I don’t know. A membrane between two coexistent places, maybe. Our world appears solid to us, but really it is more like a liquid. These rips in space—I think they are akin to splashing raindrops. They cause a disruption in the otherwise flat, featureless surface of our reality.”
I shook my head and gulped my drink. His theories were interesting, but I knew they were only theories. I also knew they weren’t helping me. “Can we get back to what happened to Bernie?”
“You said it yourself. You happened to Bernie. Everyone you get close to dies.”
I stared at the man’s dark shape. I didn’t like his answer. I thought of Jenna, Holly, even McKesson—I didn’t want any of them to die. They were the only people I knew. Well…I guess I wouldn’t miss McKesson all that much…
“How do I stop this?” I asked. “What should I do?”
“I think I’m getting old.” Rostok sighed. “I shouldn’t be talking to you so much. I think these matters are best left alone, Draith. So forget them and live your life. It’s time for you to leave now.”
I wanted to rage at him in frustration. I decided to give it one last try. “What does your object do in this place, sir? What power do you have over this domain that makes you so strong?”
Rostok chuckled in the darkness. “Pray you never learn the truth about that.”
“You want to get rid of me to protect yourself,” I said. “Even if I leave now, are you sure you’ll be safe from my curse? I’ve been here to see you twice in the span of a few days. Several events have occurred around the Lucky Seven that needed—cleaning up.”
Rostok was silent for a second. “Tell me,” he said. “What’s the first thing you remember?”
I paused. I’d expected him to become angry. I’d hoped that by poking at his obvious paranoia, I would get more out of him. Instead, he’d switched topics on me and ignored my bait. I almost told him that I could barely remember anything. The accident had eaten up my past. Thinking about it now, I felt more empty than ever. I’d lost all my belongings. If I had a family, I hadn’t been able to find them. The only thing I had was the picture that had survived the accident. Two smiling parents and a baby who might or might not be me. No other clues.
“I don’t remember much,” I admitted.
“Well, work with what you have, then. That’s all any of us can do.”
After that, he shooed me away. I left even more determined to learn the truth.
When I stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway, I encountered the opposition. There stood McKesson and two red-faced security men. None of them was smiling.
“You’ve been in there to see the old man?” McKesson asked me. “You’ve got more balls than brains, you know that, Draith?”
“I’ve heard that,” I said. I looked past the two security guys. They had a gurney with them. A large, lumpy mass filled the body bag on the gurney. “Bernie, I presume?”
McKesson gestured furiously for the security men to take the body down the hallway. They did so, and I had no doubt there was a waiting ambulance outside in the alley. I felt sure the paramedics didn’t have their flashers on, and I doubted they would take the body to the city morgue.
“What do you do in cases like this, Jay?” I asked McKesson. “I mean, do you have a big hole full of bones in the desert somewhere? Or do you have a one-way garbage chute set up to dump your waste into the world of the Gray Men? Is that why they are so pissed off?”
McKesson laughed unpleasantly. “That would be pretty cool, actually.”
“So, what do you want to do next?” I asked.
McKesson’s hand slipped down to his gun. He did it in a natural motion, as if he were adjusting his clothing. He smiled at me confidently.
“It’s time to take you in, Draith. You’re interfering with my job. Sorry, it’s nothing personal.”
I didn’t plan to turn around and let him snap cuffs on me. He read my eyes, and gave a tiny nod. Neither of us said anything. He made his move, and I did the same. Both of us pulled our pistols out and had the barrel in the other guy’s face.
“No plans to come along quietly, eh?” McKesson asked. He jerked his head toward the elevator. Is Rostok dead up there? Did you manage to take out the old man too?”
I glared at him. “We had this argument when we first met. I’m not an assassin.”
“All I know is that people keep dying around you, Draith. Important people.”